Police: Teens confess to killing homeless man

Body found behind auto parts store in Hallandale Beach

Police say two teenagers have confessed to killing a man whose body was found behind an auto parts store in Hallandale Beach.

Juan Xolo, 17, and Jose Carlos Llano, 14 were charged Wednesday.

Hallandale Police Chief Dwayne Flournoy said officers were called to the Advanced Auto Parts store located at 126 N. Federal Highway about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday.

When officers arrived, they saw two teenagers hitting a man who was on the ground, said Flournoy. The teenagers ran away when they saw the officers arrive. Officers then found the man's body.

The teenagers were later caught and taken into custody. Flournoy said they confessed to using a pen to stab the man.

Flournoy said the teenagers admitted to planning a transaction involving money, but the transaction didn't happen, adding that the victim still asked for money. He didn't go into detail about what the transaction involved, only saying the teenagers said they offered the victim a laptop as payment.

"This individual was there to facilitate the services. That didn't happen, but however, he still required or was demanding payment," said Flournoy.

Neighbors say the man was homeless. His name was not immediately released.

"He's an interesting man. He reads, he does yoga, and he has a computer and it's not often that you find that in a person that is homeless," said Pete Engelman. "I am 110 percent sure that if there was an altercation, he was defending himself. He would never in a million years start up with someone. He wasn't like that."